This week, the California Legislature convened several oversight and informational hearings on the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as healthcare costs in California. Below, we briefly summarize these hearings. COVID-19 Impacts on Foster Care The Senate Human Services Committee convened an informational hearing on Monday to explore the COVID-19 impacts on the…
Read More »On Tuesday, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 6 on Budget Process, Oversight, and Program Evaluation and the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization convened a joint informational hearing to receive an update on California’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing featured an overview of the state’s operational efforts to contain the pandemic, investments in…
Read More »The Assembly Health Committee convened this week to explore California’s Health Information Exchange (HIE) landscape. Members of the Committee heard from several experts who discussed how HIE works currently in California, federal and state policy that has shaped HIE systems, what other states have done to build HIE capacity, and options for California to consider…
Read More »This week, the California State Senate and Assembly convened separate oversight hearings to explore the COVID-19-related impacts on education and distance learning, as well as skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Below, brief summaries of the hearings are provided. Senate Joint Oversight Hearing on Distance Learning On Monday, the Senate Education Committee and Senate Special Committee on…
Read More »On Tuesday, the Assembly Health Committee, chaired by Assembly Member Jim Wood, convened a lengthy afternoon hearing to hear from a series of experts on health care affordability in California. Five panels covered topics such as health care spending in the state, health care cost drivers, the availability of health data in the state, health…
Read More »This week, the Senate Health Committee convened an informational hearing entitled “The Affordable Care Act in Jeopardy: What does it mean for California?” bringing together several experts and consumers to discuss what would happen in California if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is struck down by the US Supreme Court. The hearing featured several panels…
Read More »On Wednesday, the Senate Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response convened an oversight hearing on workplace health and safety issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing featured two panels with the first focused on state activities related to prevention, outbreaks, and enforcement activities from representatives of the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), California Division…
Read More »Governor Gavin Newsom met the constitutional deadline to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature on Wednesday, September 30, officially concluding the 2020 legislative year. During this second year of the 2019-20 legislative session, and despite COVID-19 related interruptions, the Governor signed 457 bills and vetoed 56. This week, the Governor held multiple virtual…
Read More »Today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a handful of legislative measures to reform the state’s behavioral health care system, including reforms aimed at improving access to mental health and substance use disorder services and behavioral health services for individuals experiencing homelessness. Most notably, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 1976 (Eggman) to expand court-ordered Assisted Outpatient…
Read More »On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills to provide protections to specified workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures signed by Newsom include SB 1159 by Senator Jerry Hill and AB 685 by Assembly Member Eloise Gómez Reyes. SB 1159 expands access to workers’ compensation by creating a rebuttable presumption for specified employees, including…
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